Fastening device



cal of manufacture; simple of" construct Patented May 18, 1943 ClarenceT. Holman, Qlendal e, (5a1if.,assignor to The Weatherheadfiorhpany,Cleveland, Ohio,

a corporation of Ohio Application Ma'lrli 31, 1941, Serial No; 386,073

7 Claims.

This invention relates broadly to a fastener and more specificially to aresilient expansible fastening device for securing a cover or closuremember upon a receptacle;

Heretofore in the construction or' assembly of receptacles; such as arecommonly employed for electrical outlets, switch boxes or the like;flangesor lugs have been provided upon the receptacles for thesecurement of covers thereto. type oi construction necessitatedthedrilling and tanping of holes in the flanges or' lugs and thesubsequent insertion of screws or clips therein for securing the coverupon the receptacle. Thus, in attaching the cover to the receptacle,considerable difliculty was often encountered in align ing the openingsonemember' with those formed the other and; also in inserting" thescrews 01' clips in the openings; Furthermore,

the" assembly or reassembly of the receptacle made it necessary thattheopenings in the cover antibox be located with e tremeaccuraey, ex actgeometrical relationship; in order to} align the openings in one memberwiththose formedin the other member. was, dueflto the'fact that; unlessthere'was such accuracy; it the eover were turned; encl reread; the opnings form's therein would often failto align witn tnose' 151% video thebox, tnusnecessitating the revers ing of thecover or box" in order toalign theisei'rerai openings: I l r V Oneof the objects of the presentinvention is the provision of a resilient expansible" fastening devicedisposed on a closure member and en gageable with areceptacle to-securethe closure member thereto. Another object is to provide a fasteningdevice having a resilient" element so designed as to assist in guidingand securingthe closure member uponthe receptacle and in preventingvibration" therebetweem Another ob j'e'ct'isto provide a simple andcompact rasten: i'ng device embodying a resilient expansion el'e'm'en'tL- Further objectsare toprovidje such-a fats-'- teni'ng device;which is light-in Weight, (sectionalliable and efficient in service andaoabtedtom cilitate the ready attachment of a closureniem her to a:receptacle. V

Otherobjectsand advantages moreor' 1ess=an cillary'tothe foregoing andthe-manner in which all thevarious objects are realized will appear: inthe following description, which cor' si'rie red. in connection with theaccompanying drawing, sets forth refer-rem embodiment of the ventibhi 7a 1 I preferably accomplish the aboveand= other objects of the inventionby providing a fastenins device having a resilient element disposed upona studor boltwhichis mounted in a; cover to compress and expand theresilient element against a r'eoeptame use seeui in-g the cover than to;Preferably the resilient eler nentis secured upon a-boltor stud extendsthrough the cover and has a nut threaded on the free end thereof for comressing the resilient element against the cover prior the expansionthereof against the sidesof a rec'eptaole.

In the drawing Fig. 1 nlanview showing the cover or clo sure membersec'i'ii ed upon the receptacle by the fastening device of the presentirW'iitiQfi;

Fig. 2 is a vei tieill "e'otio'nal View ofare receptacle, the view beingtaken on a plane indic'a'te'd by line 2 4 of Fig-1;

If'igl- 3 is an enla'ii ged vei tioalsectional view ofa fragmentaryortion or the rceptaoleand 610- su'ie rn'en'i-ber, showing"- theresilient fastening de- Vice for securing the closure member u'p'oi'ithereceptaclethe view being takenon' a plane in'cli dated-by line 3'"3 ofFi'gt 2'; r

Fig.- 4 is a} transverse s'eotidi-ietl View of a} poitio'n of thereceptacle showing the" res" lent fas: toningdevice disoosed a} corner"the of; the

View 15651 g lfikefiof? a, plane indicated by line cal-sectional'vi ewor a modified ion-nor the- I-a'ste'"ng deviceyand V Fig-i 6 is avertical: sectional iv of still another mo'difie'd form of thefastening" device;

Referring to Figs. 1 and- 2, the receptacle shown thereinfor the parpbseoi illustration, com rises a-hollow metallic may or base m'einbier mlial-ving' a natraar' Wall arid inte rany formed side' and; end wantdis-posed normal totnerearwan; The corners H ofthe'body' [that thejuncture of the side and end' Walls, are rounded to facilitate theengagement of the faste'ning" device thereto; in'e'ta'llie cover or" 010sm-emember #3 configures to enclose theopen face of the body Inisprovided:with anoutward ly' alnd downw rdly projeoting flan e IFadapted studs 01 bolts l7 which are acleispte'cl to feittendwithin thebody l0 contiguous the" rounded cor cover.

ners H when the cover is mounted upon the body. The head l8 of the boltH is spaced from the inner surface of the cover l3 while a washer l9 andnut 20 mounted on the free or outer end of the bolt engage the externalsurface of the A resilient expansible element 22 formed preferably ofrubber, either natural or synthetic, and of a diameter greater than thehead i8, is disposed on the bolt H intermediate the head l8 and theinner surface of the cover #3. The resilient elements may be of anydesired configuration such as cylinders or tubes, and they may be moldedor vulcanized on the bolt ll or, if desired, they may be preformed withan opening therethrough of less diameter than the bolts to facilitatethe adherence of the resilient element thereto and prevent the boltsfrom turning when the nuts 26 are tightened on the ends thereof.

In the assembly and securement of the cover on the body Ill the bolts orstuds ll having the resilient elements 22 disposed thereon are securedto the inner surface of the cover by the nuts 20. With the resilientelements depending from the cover, in their initial or unexpandedcondition, the cover is brought into position against the open face ofthe body If] with the bolts H and resilient elements 22 freely disposedin the corners H. Upon the positioning of the cover on the body Hi thenuts 2i] are rotated on the bolts for drawing the heads I8 towards theinner surface of the cover to compress the resilient elements 22 betweenthe cover and heads [8. The compressing of the resilient elements causesthem to have a radial expansion or swelling within the corners ll forsecurely attaching the cover to the body. The resilient elements intheir expanded status do not tend to distort or expand the side and endwalls of the body but engage the corners H with suflicient force toretain the cover securely in position against the body If Because of theengagement in the corners, the walls are subjected principally to forcesin tension, hence light gage materials can be used. Due to the manner inwhichthe resilient elements are secured to the bolts the threading ofthe nuts on the ends thereof does not cause the bolts to turn during thecompressing and expanding of the elements. It will be readily apparentthat the resilient elements may be expanded slightly prior to thepositioning of the cover on the body so that when the; cover is appliedto the body the partially expanded elements may be forced intothecorners l I to temporarily and removably hold the cover in place. 7 V

In the modified form of the invention illustrated in Fig. the resilientelement 30 is similar to the one disclosed in Figs. 2 and 3 with theexception that oneend of the resilient element 3i] has a concave surface3| formed thereon for the reception of a convex faced nut 32. While theresilient element 30 and nut 32 may be formed and provided as separateparts it is preferable that the resilient element be molded, vulcanizedor otherwise afiixed to the nut 32.

The assembly of the fastening device upon the cover is similar to thatdisclosed in Fig. 1 with the exception that bolts 33 extend through theopenings formed in the cover with the heads 34 of the bolts bearingagainst the outer surface of the cover. Slots 35 are formed in the heads34 for the insertion of a screw driver or the like to facilitate theattachment of the resilient element and nut and the consequentcompression and expansion of the element for securing the:

cover to the body. i

In the modification shown in Fig. 6 the resilient element may be formedas a tubular cylindrical member of rubber, rubber composition or thelike with the ends thereof flat and parallel to one another. A nut 4!having the inner face thereof configured for intimate engagement withone end of the resilient element has the periphery thereof rounded tomerge with and form a part of the resilient element. The resilientelement 40 and nut il are secured to the cover in the same manner asthat disclosed for the resilient element of Fig. 5.

Although the cover for the body H] has been shown as containing aresilient fastening device in each corner thereof, it will be readilyapparent that the number of fastening devices needed may be determinedby the type of installation desired and the configuration and size ofthe receptacle body. Furthermore, the frictional engagement of theresilient elements with the inner surface of the cover and the heads ofthe bolts prevents the bolts from rotating upon the threading of thenuts on the free ends thereof.

Although, the foregoing description is necessarily of a detailedcharacter, in order that the invention may be completely set forth, itis to be understood that the specific terminology is not intended to berestrictive or confining, and that various rearrangements of parts andmodifications of detail may be resorted to without departing from thescope or spirit of the invention as herein claimed.

I claim:

1. In combination a rectangular body having an opening, a closure memberfor the openingv in the body, a resilient expansible element of smallcross-sectional area as compared to the area of said opening mounted onsaid closure member in fixed position and laterally engagee able with aside and end wall only of said body,

and means for expanding said element laterally when in operativeposition to secure the closure member to said body.

2. A fastener for a receptacle comprising a r body having an openingtherein, the walls of said body with an opening therein, a closuremember for said opening, the walls of said body forming corners therein,means for securing the cover to the body, comprising bolts extendingthrough said cover in alignment with the corners of said body, the headsof said bolts being spaced from the inner surface of the cover,resilient blocks ceivable in said corners, nuts threaded on the. freeends of said bolts for compressing the resilient elementsagainst thecover and expanding the resilient elements against said body to securethe cover to the body.

5. A fastener for a receptacle comprising a body with an openingtherein, the walls of said body forming corners, a cover for saidopening having apertures therein in alignment with said corners, boltsextending through said openings with the heads thereof spaced from the.inner surface of the cover, resilient blocks mounted on the boltsintermediate the heads and the inner 7 surface of the cover, and meanson the free ends of the bolts for drawing the heads toward the cover andexpanding the resilient blocks in said corners.

6. A fastener for a receptacle comprising a body with an openingtherein, a cover for said opening, means for detachably securing thecover to the body comprising bolts mounted in the cover with the freeends thereof spaced from the inner surface of the cover, nuts on thefree end of the bolts, resilient elements molded on the nuts anddisposed on said bolts intermediate the cover and said nuts, saidresilient elements engageable with said body upon the threading of thenuts on the bolts.

7. A fastener for a receptacle comprising a body having an openingtherein, a cover for said opening, a plurality of resilient blocksmounted in fixed positions at spaced points on the inner side of saidcover and arranged to be received within said body and disposed adjacentspaced points of the inner wall surfaces of said body, and meansoperable from the outer side of the cover for expanding said blockslaterally against said inner wall surfaces to secure the cover to thebody.

CLARENCE T. HOLMAN.

